Healing
One
has to be wounded in order to become a healer.
(The)
natives in the circumpolar regions, for instance, say that the difference
between an ordinary person who suffers and the healer is that the healer finds a
way to overcome and get out of his trouble without technical help.
He can overcome his own suffering; he finds the creative way out, and
that means he finds his own cure, which is unique.
TPoPA 112
The
healing hero, therefore, is the one who finds some creative way out, a way not
already known, and does not follow a pattern. Ordinary sick
people follow ordinary patterns, but the shaman cannot be cured by the usual
methods of healing. He has to find the unique way – the only
way that applies to him. The creative personality who can do
that then becomes a healer and is recognized as such by his colleagues.
TPoPA 113